Fashion and weight lifting don’t always match. For me they do. I love wearing extravagant outfits (especially tights, tanks and shoes) just for the fun of it.

I’ve just recently bought a new pair of lifting shoes namely the Nike Romaleos 2. I used to have a pair of Adidas Power Perfect II with “customized” giraffe-laces. They were beautiful but since I had a little spare change and I’ve long been wanting to buy the Romaleos I decided to purchase them at Strengthshop.de.

And here they are.

Why pay 1650 kroner for a pair of lifting shoes? It seems stupid especially because I already own a pair of Power Perfect but. Well. No real reason. Well, except that they’re better than the shoe from Adidas and they’re aesthetically pleasing.

Benefits of a lifting shoe

For the average trainee a lifting shoe might be overkill. But if you’re looking to strenghten your squat and you’re serious about your training a lifting shoe will sooner or later become very relevant for you.

A lifting has an elevated heel, it is heavy and provides extra stability for the ankles. The elevation of the heel helps you keep your heels on the ground and increases the distance your knees travel (and no, your knees are not meant to stay behind your toes). This allows for a deeper squat (or other Olympic lifts) by reducing the need for mobility – which a lot of people lack (me included).

You will still have to work on your mobility, stretching and so forth.

And may I add that every single Olympic lifter uses lifting shoes. Just saying.